The human rights of women throughout the Middle East and North Africa are systematically denied by each of the countries in the region, despite the diversity of their political systems. Many governments routinely suppress civil society by restricting freedom of the press, expression, and assembly.
Hindell, Juliet, "International: Single Women in Japan woo their Valentines with a bridal message", Sunday Telegraph [London], 14 February 1999, Online, Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 22 Mar 1999. Iwao, Sumiko, The Japanese Woman: Traditional Image and Changing Reality, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994.
Mukhtar Mai was brutally gang-raped on the orders of her village council. everybody expected her to commit suicide, as is often the case after rape in Pakistan. She captured the imagination of millions around the world. She is one of Pakistan's most prominent rights activists, and she has since become an icon for women's rights in Pakistan.
The vast majority of Afghanistan's population professes to be followers of Islam. Over 1400 years ago, Islam demanded that men and women be equal before God, and gave them various rights such the right to inheritance, the right to vote, the right to work, and even choose their own partners in marriage.
Lost since 1979 ... about 80 per cent of summer sea-ice. Photo: Nick Cobbing Climate change has moved into a new and dangerous phase. The Arctic has been warming two to three times faster than the rest of the world.
By ARTHUR MWANSA MINISTER of Gender and Child Development Inonge Wina says she is happy that women are becoming the primary focus in the Common Market for Eastern and South Africa (COMESA) agriculture and climate change programmes.
The Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate this month than at any other time in recorded history, with virtually the entire ice sheet showing signs of thaw. The rapid melting over just four days was captured by three satellites. It has stunned and alarmed scientists, and deepened fears about the pace and future consequences of climate change.